Ghosts of His Past
by Sweetdeath04
Summary: Post The End and The Beatrice Letters. Spoilers. Lemony Snicket meets someone that reminds him of his lost loved ones and he feels that it is not only his duty to catalogue the tale of the Baudelaire's but to accept this girl as who she is. FINI!
1. Spectres

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters in A Series of Unfortunate Events. If I did, several wouldn't have died, and instead, went on to live very happy lives.

**A.N. **_Okay, my first SoUE fic! Hooray! This idea popped into my head yesterday and it was begging to be written. It might have been done already; I don't know. I haven't read anything like it yet! It's short and sweet! Enjoy, and **please** **review!!!!!**_

**_Ghosts of His Past_**

**Chapter One: Spectres**

'_I am sorry I embarrassed you in front of your friends. I only wanted to talk to you._

_The waiter agreed to bring this card with your drink. If you don't want to meet me, rip it in half when you are done with your root beer float, and I will leave and never try to contact you again. _

_But if you want to meet me, I'm the ten-year-old girl at the corner table._

_B.'_

As he folded the card over again and placed it in his pocket, Lemony's eyes closed briefly. The haunting image of the ten-year-old girl who looked wise beyond her years, flashed across his vision. His eyes snapped open and he inhaled deeply.

When he had started receiving the letters from Beatrice Baudelaire, he had hoped beyond all hopes, that his beloved had survived the fire and, like he, had gone into hiding.

When he saw this girl, three things had rushed through his head at such a pace that he wasn't sure in what order they came. Firstly, or maybe it was secondly or thirdly, was that this wasn't _his _Beatrice. Secondly, although it could have been firstly or thirdly, was that she was too young to be one of _his _Beatrice's children. It _couldn't_ be the same Baudelaire's! She wouldn't have been born at the time of that fateful fire.

Thirdly, or at least he assumed it was thirdly, was that this was all a dream, as he was staring into the face of his dear departed sister, when she had been ten years old.

Lemony had spluttered for a few precious moments as the pieces slowly fitted together. By the time he had finished, the girl was gone and he was ordering a root beer float, while wishing for something considerably stronger.

Then he had received this card.

That girl was a spectre; Two spectres actually. One in name and the other in appearance. He had never considered the possibility that there could be two Beatrice Baudelaire's. At least, not two who were so well-read and resourceful. Not two Beatrice Baudelaire's who had relations called Violet, Klaus and Sunny. It was a dreadful oversight on his part.

And she was so much like Kit. He felt as though he had been transported back so many years, to a time where he was eight years old and where Jacques and Kit were ten. That was when it all made sense.

He knew that Kit had been pregnant. He also had heard the devastating news of her death. Once again, he had made a potentially disastrous oversight. He had assumed that when his dear sister's spirit had been eternally silenced, the baby had died along with her. It was tradition to name Snicket children after the dead. Obviously Kit had called her daughter after Beatrice the First. When she died, the children of the first Beatrice Baudelaire had taken on the task of raising the orphaned infant.

Lemony swallowed the remainder of his root beer float and retrieved the card from his pocket. She might not have been who he believed her to be, but, in a way, she was still his Beatrice. She was his niece. He couldn't refuse her. Especially not when he himself had sent a similar note in a similar way in this very café all those years ago.

Leaving a few coins on the table to pay for his drink, he made sure that his hat still obscured his face from view and made his way over to the table in the corner.

**A.N.** _Okay, the final part will be up soon! I'm going on holidays tomorrow and I wanted at least part of this posted before then. I'll try to write the rest and post it before I leave. I know it's short, don't nag!_

_Please review!!! I'd really appreciate it and I'd forever be in your debt!_

_**Sweetdeath04**_


	2. Sad Stories

Disclaimer: I don't own it!!!

**A.N. **_So I'm terrible at updating my stories… It's a bad habit and you can't teach an old dog new tricks! But I'm back now and I'm determined to finish some of my fics. I have fourteen fanfics and only seven of them are complete!_

_Anyway, enough of my chattin'. Time to finish this!!! Thanks for all the reviews so far and enjoy the next chapter!!!_

**Chapter Two: Sad Stories**

He sat down opposite Beatrice. Before he could open his mouth to even utter an introduction, she blurted out the two that he least expected to hear.

"I'm sorry." Her voice was low and soft to stop anyone over hearing their conversation, but she rushed the words like someone who was panicking to say something before she could be falsely accused.

Lemony was surprised, "Whatever for? I'm glad to have met you."

"You believed I was someone else. You thought I was the mother of Violet, Klaus and Sunny when I'm not even related to them by blood."

Lemony sighed; finally ready to ask the question which he already knew the answer to. "Your mother was Kit Snicket, wasn't she?"

Beatrice looked up, intently peering under his hat to see the face beneath. Lemony had to remind himself that he was among friends, not enemies. It would do no harm to let his niece see his face.

"Yes, she was." Beatrice paused, as if pondering on what to say next. "And you're her brother," she finally concluded. As he nodded solemnly, she took a deep breath. "I need your help- well," she paused momentarily, "I would appreciate your help, if you'd be so kind to give it to me."

He could barely look at her. That tiny glint of desperation in her eyes haunted him. He had seen it before, in his sister's eyes as she told him of Jacques death, pleading with him to hide once again so she wouldn't loose another brother.

"What can I do?" The words were out of his mouth before he had time to keep his tongue in check. She had mentioned that Beatrice Baudelaire's children- the _other_ Beatrice Baudelaire, that is- were missing. No, he corrected himself, she was searching for them. There was a difference.

It was his duty to his niece and to his lost love to find them, if that was truly what the child in front of him needed.

"My siblings- adopted siblings I should say," she began quietly, "have always looked after me for as long as I can remember. I can't imagine life without them-"

She broke off, controlling the emotions in her voice. Something, Lemony thought, that no ten year old should ever have to do. He tried to give her a comforting smile, but it had been so long since he had expressed emotion himself, that the effort, he felt, was entirely wasted.

But she smiled back. She recognised his struggle. "But they once had a life without me," she concluded.

Lemony furrowed his brow in thought- surely she couldn't be blaming herself for imposing on them, could she?

Once again she spoke without giving him a chance to reply. "That life is now gone- I mean vanished! From when the other Beatrice Baudelaire died to when I was born has just gone!" Her voice had risen sharply as she tried to understand what she was saying herself.

"I must admit, Beatrice," Lemony started softly, his voice hoarse from staying silent so long, "I honestly have no inkling as to what you mean. The better half of a year can't just vanish into thin air, if that's what you mean."

"But it has!" she moaned miserably. "They never mention it. Anything, any place, anyone. It's like it never happened, never existed. I can understand if they don't want to talk about it," she hesitated and then grinned up at him ruefully, "but I'm very curious. I'm searching for what happened to make them so independent, to exhibit so many talents, to make them who they are!"

She sighed, but left the final question unspoken. Nevertheless, Lemony could hear it echoing around his head- _'What happened to the people who are influencing your life and making you who you are,'_ he thought.

Maybe, just maybe, it wasn't too late for him to become one of those people.

"I know a little of what happened," he began as he sifted though his own thoughts on what he had heard. "I know that it began with their mother's death, like you said, and it just got worse from there."

"A series of unfortunate events?" the younger occupant of the table butted in, and Lemony nodded rapidly, this time, an easy, natural smile forming on his lips.

"I have some notes written down and hidden in a safe place-"

"Oh, please don't go out of your way to help me!"

Lemony almost laughed. It was something other than hiding in constant fear of being found- he'd probably end up at the bottom of some ocean or another searching for clues as to the events of eleven years ago.

He completed his sentence, "and I was wondering if you'd care to accompany me, Miss Baudelaire?" He offered her his arm in a gentlemanly fashion.

"I'd be delighted," she answered courteously, before adding, "Uncle Lemony."

**A.N. **_Whew! All done!!! So what do you think? Please review and have a great 2007!!!_

**_Sweetdeath04_**


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